Distinct cortical activity patterns in Parkinson's disease and essential tremor during a bimanual tapping task.
Frauke Luft, Sarvi Sharifi, Winfred Mugge and 5 others
PMID 32183867WHAT IT FOUND
Brain activity during tapping did not significantly separate Parkinson's disease from essential tremor, although both patient groups differed from healthy controls.
Key findings
01PD patients tapped less accurately than ET patients and healthy controls only during the non-cued 2 Hz task.
02EEG task-related power differed between patients and healthy controls most often in frontal, central and posterior areas.
03The study did not find significant differences between the PD and ET groups.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they found
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What it does not show
The group sizes were small. No significant differences were found between PD and ET, so the task did not separate the two patient groups. Tremor occurrence varied by task and was not matched between the patient groups. Patients stopped tremor-suppressing medication according to a personalized scheme, which may change cortical activity. Task-related power was calculated relative to each person's own resting activity, but resting activity can differ between patients and controls. Only tapping frequencies at or above 2 Hz were used, so lower frequencies might have shown greater differences.
Declared interests
The supplied text names the funder as Stichting voor de Technische Wetenschappen. It does not report author conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that this EEG tapping task can diagnose Parkinson's disease versus essential tremor. The study found no significant differences between the two patient groups.